


The Golden Head of Captain McCoy

by kingstoken



Category: Relic Hunter
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 15:59:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18524836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingstoken/pseuds/kingstoken
Summary: "About the pirate Captain McCoy, who hid his jewel encrusted bust on the island, of course I did, it's a local legend, but Nigel, it's just a story the locals like to tell to children, and tourists"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phnelt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/phnelt/gifts).



> This fic is in no way remotely historically accurate, but neither was the show most of the time. This story isn't really shippy, but it could be read as slightly Sydney/Nigel, if you wanted to

The sun felt nice, the warm breeze caressed her skin. She loved Canada, but there was no place like Hawaii. She was standing in her cousin's garden, it was full of lush plants, it was really beautiful. She wondered if Nigel had seen it yet. She had brought Nigel on this little vacation so her family could finally meet him, the man they said she was always talking about. 

"Syd." Speak of the devil, Nigel was entering through the gate to the backyard.

"Nigel, there you are. Have you had a chance to explore this wonderful garden?" Nigel stopped to really look at his surroundings for the first time.

"Yes, it's quite lovely." But then he seemed to shake off the magic and refocus on Sydney.

"Syd, I was just talking to your cousin's neighbor, Jon, and he was telling me about the golden head of Captain McCoy, did you know about this?"

"About the pirate Captain McCoy, who hid his jewel encrusted bust on the island, of course I did, it's a local legend, but Nigel, it's just a story the locals like to tell to children, and tourists" she said raising an eyebrow. 

"But, Syd, the location ..."

"The golden ridge beneath the blood red line."

"Doesn't that sound like where we visited yesterday?"

"What?" Yesterday she had taken Nigel to a national park.

"When we were climbing the mountain and I stopped to admire the flowers up on the ridge, well, actually I stopped to catch my breath, but our guide, Ricky, thought I had stopped to admire the flowers, and he told us how lucky we were because those flowers only bloom one week a year. Syd, they were dark red, and when the sunlight hit the ridge ..."

"It looked golden. Didn't Ricky also say the park is one of the few places on the island that has remained completely undeveloped since the 1700s?" Nigel nodded. Sydney felt the thrill of discovery rush through her veins, there was an artifact to find.


	2. Chapter 2

Nigel had been right about the flowers and the ridge, as they climbed they examined it closely, and they found a cave. The entrance had been covered with tangled vegetation and if they hadn't been looking closely they wouldn't have found it, most people would have passed right by it, none the wiser. They turned on their flashlights, it wasn't a large cave, it was just wide enough that two people could stand side by side, the ceiling just a couple of feet from their heads. Nigel moved in front of her slightly. Sydney continued to scan their surroundings with her flashlight, something wasn't right with the floor up ahead.

"Nigel" she said, grabbing his collar and pulling backwards. Nigel's foot kicked a pebble as he was yanked back, the pebble made ominous sounds as it hit the walls going downwards. Sydney and Nigel looked down into the pit Nigel had nearly stepped into. How deep it went was hard to tell, because the flashlights didn't completely penetrate the darkness. Sydney noticed something on the walls.

"Nigel, shine your light on the left wall, I'm going to try and get across. She placed her hands and her feet on small crevices, that made natural handholds, and slowly shimmed her way across. Then she held her flashlight as Nigel nervously did the same.

They continued forward until they were forced to stop, a rock slide was blocking their way. Again most people would have taken this at face value and turned around, but Sydney found, on the upper right, a small opening that Nigel and herself could squeeze through. When they had safely reached the other side the cave expanded slightly, but Sydney noticed it didn't look natural, the walls and floor were too smooth. She grabbed a few rocks from the rock slide and threw them ahead of her and Nigel. One of the rocks hit a particular spot on the floor and wooden spikes flew out of the walls. Sydney and Nigel exchanged a look, Nigel viably swallowed. They climbed around the spikes, then they came to the entrance of a expansive cavern. In the center was the bust, placed upon a pedestal, lit by a sunbeam coming from an opening in the ceiling above. Sydney could see from here that the bust wasn't truly encrusted in jewels, but it looked more like it was marble, delicately filigreed in gold.

"Okay, Syd" said Nigel "how do you want to handle this? The pedestal is probably booby trapped, I have a sandbag in my pack for that, but what about the floor? Do you want me to go back and get some more rocks?" 

"Nigel, wait. Just take moment to really look around. There is no cobwebs or bat dung anywhere, there are no roots growing down from that opening in the ceiling, and the wall on the far right looks like it was recently repaired. Someone has been maintaining this place." 

"You are correct, Sydney fox" said a unknown voice, and then from an unseen crevice on the right, appeared Ricky, their guide from the day previous.

"Welcome to the Golden Chamber" proclaimed Ricky.

"Thank you" replied Nigel hesitantly.

"What is this place? And why are you here?" asked Sydney, getting to the heart of the matter.

"This is the home of Captain McCoy. Members of my family have been maintaining and protecting it for centuries."

"This piece belongs in a museum."

"Does it? We like to think that it is Captain McCoy's gift to this island."

"All the more reason that it should be in a museum, where the people of this island could see it?" 

"Would they see it? Or would it end up in an artifact room, studied only by academics, or displayed as an attraction for tourists." Sydney wanted to reassure him, but she had no say in how an artifact was used after she gave it into a museum's care. 

"At least it would be more secure than here." Nigel pointed out.

'I don't think so, you are the first people to make it past the rockfall in decades" Sydney and Nigel looked at each other.

"Can you excuse us for just a moment? I want to have a word with my partner" said Sydney, as she and Nigel went back into the smaller cave.

"What do you think?" Sydney whispered to Nigel.

"I don't know, this isn't like the situations we usually encounter, but how do we know that he doesn't have a nefarious purpose?"

"We don't, but it seems highly unlikely. Ricky didn't follow us in here, he is a local, and he seems to know these caves like the back of his hand. If he wanted to steal the bust and sell it on the black market he could have done it a long time ago."

"And if what he says is true, about his family being caretakers of the head for generations, wouldn't that make them the de facto owners?"

"What Nigel says is true" said Ricky, who was standing at the mouth of the cave.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're light on your feet?" said Sydney.

"It comes in handy, when traveling around underground. But, back to what Nigel was saying, you have no right to remove the head of Captain McCoy."

"Is there anything we can say to convince you that giving the bust to a museum would be the right thing?"

"No. Don't look so upset, Sydney, some things in life are meant to remain a mystery."


	3. Chapter 3

It was the next day, after their failed attempt to recover the head of Captain McCoy, Ricky had lead them back out of the caves. Currently, Sydney and Nigel were having lunch at an outdoor cafe, or they were supposed to be, Sydney picked at her food, she was quiet, in fact she had been unusually quiet all day.

"Your very quiet today" said Nigel.

"I'm just thinking."

"Can I ask about what?"

"I have been thinking about what Ricky said yesterday, about what happens to a lot of artifacts in museums, and I have to admit it bothers me, because I couldn't argue with what he said." Sydney sighed "Nigel, I am starting to question my decisions."

"About the head of Captain McCoy?"

"About everything, my career, my goals. Maybe going around he world finding artifacts isn't the right thing for me to be doing."

"Syd, no" he said, reaching across the table and lightly touching her hand "In a lot cases historical artifacts would be lost or destroyed without someone to care for them properly. This situation is different, because the head of Captain McCoy has a devoted caretaker and defender in Ricky."

"Thank you, Nigel. That does help me feel somewhat better."

"Better enough to have a slice of double chocolate with me?" Sydney laughed.

"Nigel, I haven't even finished my salad yet." 

"Forget it. Some days cake is exactly what you need."


End file.
